Piñol: Japan vows to invest P48 billion to fund Philippine farms

Japan has agreed to grant the Philippines a loan amounting to $1 billion or close to P48 billion to fund its farmers, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol revealed in an interview on ANC.

The projects that will be funded by the grant include a biomass in Negros Occidental, among others. The Philippines is also seeking Japan's help to finance agricultural mechanics program in the country, as well as the procurement of farm equipment, post-harvest facilities, rice mills and tractors from Japan.

Agreements to export bananas, pineapples, and avocados to Japan are also in the works.

“[Our discussion] was not just on agricultural revival. Some solid agreements were already made, and signed in behalf of the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine government,” he said.

Piñol added that he has made agreements with Japanese investors to produce goods using rubber that is sourced from the Philippines.

Japanese investors urged to invest in Mindanao

As part of his aim to decentralize the Philippines' bulk of investments which is generally concentrated in Manila, President Rody Duterte has urged the Japanese investors to invest in rural areas such as his homeland, the Mindanao.

Speaking in a business forum, President Duterte said Japanese investors could try to explore additional business opportunities in other industries such as agriculture.

Duterte pitched his home region Mindanao as a viable area to conduct businesses. He cited Mindanao's vast lands and rich soil quality.

"(The country) needs to decentralize growth through agriculture development, particularly in the rural areas which are more dependent on agriculture, like Mindanao, that produce the country’s top agricultural exports such as bananas, pineapples, coconut, and tuna.”

The President was all praises for the Japanese investors and their government for their continued support in terms of infrastructure development projects.

The Philippines has been a long time benefactor of aids from Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“Japan has the corresponding capacity to be our reliable and a partner in all its resources, expertise, and technical know-how,” Duterte said.

“We would like to see more investors and more businesses setting up shop in the Philippines,” he added.

Duterte has also assured the would-be investors that his administration is “putting in place policies aimed at ensuring stability in the macro-economic policies, increasing competitiveness, improving ease of doing business, increasing spending in crucial infrastructure, and investing further in the human capital development.”